High School Wrestling: Norristown uses pins to defeat Upper Moreland

WEST NORRITON — Losing a matchup is rarely a positve turning point in a dual meet. However, in Norristown’s 45-34 victory over conference rival Upper Moreland on Wednesday night, freshman Henry Williams stayed off his back and swung the momentum in what had been a back-and-forth match up until that point permanently in Norristown’s favor.

“Our best match was at 160.” confirmed head coach Mark Harner.

The meet opened at the 120-pound weight class with Zach Fuentes receiving a forfeit, six points that the Eagles gave back to Upper Moreland two bouts later at 132 with a forfeit of their own. After dropping the next bout by fall, the Eagles found themselves trailing 18-6 before Nick Soldano and Mike Springer, both of whom were bumped up a weight class, notched falls to even up the score, setting the stage for Williams’ showdown at 160.

The match opened with Williams being taken down almost immediately by junior Justin Hester but staying off his back the rest of the period to keep the score only 2-0. Hester then notched a quick escape and takedown to open the second period before eventually working Williams to his back for the only time in the match, but Williams avoided the pin. The third period opened with another takedown by Hester but that was the end of the scoring, with Williams going down 10-1 but by not getting pinned, it was still a victory in the eyes of his teammates who were all standing and encouraging their teammate for the match’s final seconds.

“He’s a first year kid, a freshman, against probably their best kid,” said Harner when describing the importance of that match.

Once Williams shifted the balance in Norristown’s favor, the Eagles rode that momentum to three consecutive first-period falls from Rashon Lusane, who was wrestling up two weight classes at 170, Brett Harner, and Coley Adams, en route to winning five of the final seven bouts and the meet.

“We thought we’d win seven bouts and we ended up winning eight,” said Harner. “We counted on winning seven and hoped to stay off our backs.”

In order to put the Eagles in the best situation to win those seven matchups that were counted on to pick up the win, Harner and his staff tweaked the lineup a little bit and bumped a few guys up.

“We bumped three guys up: Springer, Lusane, and Soldano,” Harner explained. “They were on weight and around 3:30, I made the decision that they were bumping up.”

All three wrestlers that were bumped up rewarded their coach’s faith by notching falls and Williams, who was slipped in at 160 to compensate for those moves, also rewarded the faith of the coaches by staying off his back.

The Eagles remain undefeated in the league and will next host Springfield Township on Jan. 16.